Wishing you a safe and festive New Year’s Eve!

There is no better place to be than home for the holidays! I traveled up to my parents’ house in Northeast Philadelphia for Christmas, and I must say I have been enjoying the time off, the family activities and the home-cooking for the past week. They moved up here about 6 years ago, and a few years later I moved just miles from them, where I lived for a couple of years before returning to Tulsa. So, I enjoy coming back here every Christmas and seeing all the old sights. I love the historic sites, the colonial houses and the lush green-ness — in December!

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite views around here. And some new, lovely ones I’ve come across this trip, too! (I should try to get some pictures of these places in the fall, too, with the breathtaking colors…)

I love that most houses display a candle in every window for Christmas! (please excuse the slight blurriness of the picture below… it was rainy, and getting dark)

We met up with my aunt, uncle and cousin from Upstate New York in Strasburg, PA which is in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. You can grab an Amish buggy ride for a tour through the Amish farmlands. Strasburg is also home to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. After a visit to the Museum, you can climb aboard for a ride on a vintage train at Strasburg Rail Road. We went to go to the Sight & Sound Theatre for a showing of Miracle of Christmas – an awesome interactive musical with live animals and all! (There is also a Sight & Sound Theatre in Branson, MO. Not too far from Tulsa!)

We had lunch at the Strasburg Country Store, and it really hit the spot! The house-made fudge looks divine, but sadly, we didn’t partake but instead enjoyed a delicious warm apple dumpling with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm….

While I was here, I had to visit my favorite thrift store – the Bryn Athyn Thrift Store. Great stuff – anything you could need – for fantastic prices! This time I scored 2 books at $0.25/each, a $6 jacket and 2 $2.00 afghan blankets.

If I lived closer, that blue sideboard would have been mine in a heartbeat. Sigh.

Next door to the Thrift Store, is a charming art gallery – Orchard Artworks. So cute!

I hope you all had very wonderful holidays, wherever they found you. And have a Happy New Year!

This week I have been determined to try and get my house in order before starting 2012. Not that it’s in complete disarray, but it certainly could use some help.

If you are anything like me, then one of the worst places is your refrigerator. Tuesday I decided that it was kitchen day and that I was going to tackle my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. I threw out everything that was expired or that I hadn’t touched in a while (you know what I’m talking about….the containers at the very back that you can hardly reach). I cook a lot, so it accumulates all kinds of condiments, left overs, and who knows what else.

I cleaned all of the shelves and then put everything that was left back in – in an orderly fashion. Hoping to keep it nice and organized, at least for a while. I found this great article from Real Simple that shows a refrigerator before and after. Quite impressive! It gets into all the details about the proper placement of things, the benefit of labeling, and matching containers. Don’t be fooled, my refrigerator does not have nice labels or anything, but it is nice and clean!

Here are some items that can make your food storage much easier whether it is in the refrigerator, freezer, or pantry…

The Fridge Locker from The Container Store would be great to keep little hands out of certain items in your home refrigerator OR big hands out of your yummy homemade lunch that you brought to the office. Perhaps Ross could have benefited from one of these in the Friends episode where someone takes his “moist maker” sandwich (click link below for a refresher on the episode)….

GRUNDTAL Containers are little stainless steel storage containers that have a magnet on the back. They are perfect for spices. You’ve probably seen multiple photos on Pinterest showing them attached to a metal tray or cookie sheet that is hung on a wall or the back of a cabinet door. Well, IKEA is where you find those little containers!

Do you have any tried and true guidelines for keeping your food storage areas nice, clean, and up to date?

My next challenge is the guest bedroom. Under the bed, in the closet, you get the idea. Should be fun!

It’s always been my opinion that New Year’s Eve – whether your plans involve game night at home or a big party – is the time to bring out the sequins. It just doesn’t seem right to countdown at midnight without them. This mix of warm and cozy paired with sparkle on top of more sparkle somehow takes it down a notch and elevates the look at the same time. For my New Year’s Outfit to Room Edition I decided to do a little party planning as well, and dreamed up a permanent room with a bit of this look, blinged out for a party. Enjoy!

As I’ve been thinking about my big plans to get organized this year, I figured the best way to start was with a new calendar - a nice visual to help me organize my time and put dates in perspective for the upcoming year. I typically need something that as A LOT of space – one that will allow me to include the many activities and appointments for each day. But as I started looking, I think I would really just like to have a beautiful one to hang on the wall or set on my desk. It might be nice to look at a calendar and only be reminded what day it is! Here are a few of my favorites – although I did include a couple that has space for more than the date for those of us that absolutely need to make a note or two.

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Meet the Hive

Prairie Hive takes a peek into real, un-"designed" homes in Oklahoma, along with the people who inhabit them. This team of local designers, photographers, crafters, stylists and writers takes inspiration from everyday families, striving to create entertaining and DIY ideas that are attainable and affordable, and to show you how to get the look for yourself.